Does anyone have experience using a virtual assistant?

Finance, Taxes, Banking, Insurance and Retirement
1
Hi,

Does anyone on the forum use a virtual assistant? How have you found it?

I'm considering looking for someone to help me with some research and other administrative tasks and I'm interested to hear other people's experiences.

I'm going to post a job on elance but if anyone has some tips on where else I can look, it'd be much appreciated. Does anyone have a VA with some extra capacity that they'd recommend??

2
besides elance, you could use guru.com, limeexchange.com, freelancer.com, odesk.com or getacoder.com - they all have researchers available.

personally, i have found it more effective to advertise on local classified pages and interview the potential staff as these sites do not give you a real grasp of the supplier with reviews and ratings not matching your exact requirements.

for admin tasks, if it's a position that you intend to employ longer i'd definitely go the 2nd route although depending on the workload you might want to go with one of the specialized companies as they will be able to provide 24 hour coverage with proven backoffice systems. Options are taskseveryday.com, yourmaninindia.com, getsunday.com, askfriday.com and for german speakers strandschicht.de.

i personally tried taskseveryday.com and strandschicht but as i have the need to converse in languages other than english and german i found it more reasonable to hire a pa that speaks those languages and knows my habits.

3
Hi Aussiegirl

I am Virtual PA. Have been an Exec Assistant in UK for 20 years working for all levels up to Chairman and moved here in Feb, have experience of working remotely too. Am all set up with full office at home.

Will PM with my CV and you can have a look?

4
Wow, sorry to interrupt, but I never knew this really existed

http://www.theonion.com/video/more-a...oversea,14329/

5
haha, too true...

best quote for me: sometimes i look over it but usually it works out

that's exactly the downside for me as you do have to look over it constantly

6
Hey nvoi

I found the video very funny and was checking the date to see if it was an April 1st video.

Seriously, if you are having to look over it constantly then you've given the job to the wrong person.

Being someone's assistant may not be your career choice but it is a for a lot of people. That being said, there are good assistants and bad ones and I have worked alongside both.

If you need a good one, you know where I am.

7
It's The Onion ... 'nough said ...

8
Wasn't the presenter the fbi guy in the Sopranos?

9
He does look familiar, but in a generic American sort of way. I get all my news from The Onion , I wish we had one for Switzerland and Europe.

Today I would like to outsource everything... beginning with my head (I dread the blow-dry after the shower, it's so hot).

10
Hello, I have given it a try couple of times and it will all depend where your virtual assistant is located. Many companies are driven out of India and I have found that the time difference can play in both ways (positive and negative). It depends how fast you need things done and most importantly the quality of it. Research is not simply using Google. Did you know that Google only covers 6% of the internet.

It will come down to what type of research you need, language support etc. I manage a global group of intelligence analystsfor a large US financial institution and research is very important in my work. It is a science rather than push the search button on google...One has to know where to find the information...

On another note my wife who currently does not work has much corporate experience in the US. She also speaks 5 languages including German. Worked in banking and retail...If interested please PM me.

Thanks,

Bo

11
Hey Bo,

Is your wife still available? I will start a new job and could use some help with PP, spreadsheets, salesforce.com, etc.

thanks

12
This also sounds like the perfect thing to ask Isha.

Isha ? Are you there?

13
Hi Aussiegirl,

In case you're still looking for a Virtual Assistant I may be able to help out. I'm based in Lausanne and I prefer to meet with clients in person before I start working for them if at all possible. Have a look at my website or send me a message if you would like to discuss how I can help you.

Helen

14
Well, i think that all depends from the person that you have on the other side. I have had this experience one time, and I found a nice person, so I feel lucky

15
I'm looking to hire a virtual assistant for the following tasks

1. Personal finance - I send them my monthly bank statement, credit card bill, whatever bills, and they categorize and consolidate it into a monthly spending and budget plan

2. Travel Plan + Hack - help me decide whether to purchase with money or miles, consolidate it into a spreadsheet, book accommodation. Research local sights, transportation to and from accommodation, and compile it into a travel document before my trip

3. Research on misc items - billag, Switzerland related laws & regulation, credit cards with best rewards, best exchange rates

4. Call companies to inquire on my shopping orders, cancel/restate insurance contracts, understand my insurance contracts

Does any one have experience? Or can recommend a company?

16
You might better post a job opening in the university board or something, I tried getacoder and elance it was a complete waste of time.

You know competent people are not cheap and the cheap ones are not competent. I am sure if you pay enough you can find someone pretty easy. Even here at EF

17
I don't think what I am asking for is a lot of competence though...there is always price differential between countries so both candidates who are equally competent and the person living in a cheap country will charge less. I am going to try Guru will let you know how it goes!

18
you could try http://www.chronologica.ch/

19
Bumping an old thread here.... Anyone use(d) a virtual assistant and happy to share your experiences? Any recommendations? I would need someone able to work in English and deal with German, and cost is an issue since the idea is to free up productive time to actually make some money to be able to pay for services that cost (chicken & egg really...). Europe-based preferred. There seems to be a plethora with vaguely affordable rates - VA in Europe, European Virtual Assistant (which has an address in Birmensdorf) to name but two...

Any thoughts much appreciated. Thanks!

20
Hi,

I work as a Virtual Assistant and have found a few jobs via peopleperhour.com. The only problem I find with it is that they take quite a chunk of the payments for themselves.

If you have questions about how it all works etc. just get in touch, happy to help!

Sammy